Two Australian TV networks are refusing to screen an anti marriage equality ad which claims gay couples getting married will be "the tip of the iceberg". ***image1***"There's more to it than you think," the ad states, along with "It's time to step back and consider all the issues around same sex marriage. Like how it will affect children or sex education in schools or what rights you could lose." It's from a group called the "Marriage Alliance" which is reported to be backed by wealthy businessmen, and wants to "save Australia" from what it calls "a populous wave of ill-conceived cultural redefinition". A spokesperson says TV networks 7 and TEN are refusing to play the ad. “It is quite shocking that two major TV networks are denying the basic right to freedom of speech and expression on an issue that supports the current law of the nation,” says spokeswoman Sophie York. Channel 9 is however screening the ad. Ivan Hinton-Teoh from Australian Marriage Equality says it's a last minute scare campaign. “This kind of desperate, eleventh hour scaremongering has failed to stop the momentum for marriage equality in other countries and it will fail in Australia as well," he said. “It's asking to have a conversation start where we've been going for ten years." Australian Marriage Equality will be launching its own ad on Sunday, and has already raised more than $8,000 to air it, primarily from people who were offended by the Marriage Alliance ad.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 8th August 2015 - 8:56am